Funeka Nceke is 28 years-old and lives in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha, in a shack with no electricity or running water. She lives with her two children, ages 12 and 8 months, her niece and her niece’s boyfriend. She learned that she was HIV positive in 2003. Funeka wanted to be in the project to show her friends her status and have them accept her. She wants them to see that HIV positive people can be “fresh and healthy” and to take photos of her house, her happy children, and TAC (Treatment Advocacy Campaign) marches. Funeka would love the video, being created as a part of this project, to go to television so she can tell everyone her status and show that she is not afraid of anything.

Caroline Kompe is 32 years old and lives in the township of Khayelitsha in a shack with water and electricity. She is separated from her husband and lives alone with her 3 1⁄2 year old son. She is currently a mentor at mothers2mothers. Caroline moved to Cape Town from the Free State in 2001 and got married. When she discovered that she was HIV positive, she found it very difficult to disclose her status to her husband, as she had no family in Cape Town, wasn’t working, and was worried about being rejected. After telling her husband (it took nearly a year) her husband tested for HIV and, discovering that he was negative, he and his family began treating her poorly for “bringing HIV into the family.” This is also when he started beating her until, in 2004, he moved out. She took him back but things got bad again so she left to visit her family and, when she returned, found that he had sold everything. She had to start over and survived only because of her pay from mothers2mothers. Her second baby was born during this difficult time and, in August 2005, while in the creche (daycare), he “went to sleep and never woke up.” Caroline participated in this project to share her story and help others.

Pamela Mvinjelwa is 25 years old, married, and pregnant with her first child, due May 9th, 2006. She lives in the township of Mitchell’s Plain and is a mothers2mothers volunteer. In 2000, Pamela developed a rash and severe dandruff. Her family, thinking that she was the victim of witchcraft, took her to a sanbona (witch doctor). When this didn’t help, her brother took her to the hospital and she tested HIV positive. She had just graduated from highschool and now she thought she was going to die. Convinced the results were wrong, she tested again. It wasn’t until 2003 that she admitted to herself that she had HIV. Pamela told her mom (who advised her to keep it a secret) and everyone else in her family except her father. When she finally told her him, he ordered her out of the house and told her mother to also move out in fear that HIV would spread to him. Her mother had a doctor write a note stating that Pamela had allergies, not HIV, and her father allowed her back.

Danielle Gana is 26 years old and from the Eastern Cape. Her 8 year–old daughter lives with Danielle’s mother because her mom was worried that Danielle would die and leave the child alone. Danielle is the sole breadwinner for her family, although they do not talk to her and her friends in the area do not know her HIV status. She now lives in a one–room shack with no electricity or water in the township of Crossroads with her second child, delivered during this project, Denzel. Danielle says that being in the mothers2mothers program has helped her accept her status now that her family has rejected her. She works at the Maternity Obstetrics Unit in Mitchell’s Plain. She wanted to do this project because she wanted to show the place where she lives. She also hoped that the income from working on the project would allow her to move into her own shack.

Pumla File lives in a four room house in Gugulethu with ten people including her mom, aunt, sister, brother, and five children. Her house has both water and electricity. Pumla has three kids, ages 9, 5, and 2, all of whom are HIV negative. Pumla was diagnosed during her last pregnancy and that is when she joined The Mothers Programmes. She is currently pregnant and her baby is due in April (as of this writing, she has not yet given birth). Pumla says mothers2mothers has been good for her because she can share anything and everything [with the women in the programme]. She says, “It teaches you to be open and disclose and not worry so much about what others think.”  Through this project, Pumla wanted to document how happily she lives with her family even though they are aware of her status. They take her as she is and don’t treat her differently than others. Pumla says she is living a really happy life.

Thembisa Mdatyulwe is 31 years old and lives with her two children, a 7 year–old daughter and a five month old son, in Khayelitsha in a shack with no water or electricity. Thembisa was diagnosed with HIV in January 1999; her daughter has AIDS and is on anti–retroviral therapies (ARV); she doesn’t know her son’s status. Thembisa’s daughter requires oxygen for her treatment, which Thembisa keeps in her shack but can’t use because they have no electricity. She has some tablets, which she gives her daughter instead of oxygen. Thembisa has to go 2 kilometers to get water and when her daughter has to go to the bathroom Thembisa helps her dig a hole and then covers it up. Her daughter doesn’t know her status but her family does. Thembisa wanted to join this project to shoot photos in her neighborhood. However, she did not feel comfortable talking with neighbors about the project.

Nozandulela Samela is 20 years old and lives in Mithcell’s Plain at her aunt’s and uncle’s house (4 rooms with a shack in the back) with nine other relatives, including her 7 month old son. She was infected with HIV by her baby’s father, who knew he was positive, but did not tell her. She grew up without her mother and lived with many different people until settling with her aunt and uncle. She graduated from high school but has had no money to continue her education. Nozandulela wanted to photograph her home and neighborhood, including her aunt and uncle who agreed to being photographed and welcomed project participants into their home.

Nolukholo Klass, 18 years old, is charming, outgoing, positive, and photogenic—she modeled more than she shot. The photo (left), was taken in Nolukholo’s shack in Khayelitsha, by Nozandulela Samela. Pregnant during the project, she had her first baby, a boy, in April and allowed the birth to be documented for a project video. Nolukholo is very comfortable talking with others about HIV and wants to educate people. She hasn’t, however, disclosed her status to her family and her boyfriend has not yet tested. Nolukholo wanted to be in the project to show people that they should accept those who are positive and to show that anyone can become infected. She said most people do not expect her to be HIV positive because she only had two boyfriends and “condomized.” She’d like people to see that they could also be HIV position, so they should go get tested.

Thabile Kwezi is 23 years old and lives in a shack without electricity or running water near Paarl (Cape Town wine country) with her two kids, ages 7 and 5 months, her boyfriend, and his parents, where they work on a grape farm. She found out that she was HIV positive in 2001 and has disclosed to her family. She joined the project even though it meant commuting 1.25 hours each way. She wanted to show people her farming community, group sessions, her workplace, and her neighborhood.

Nthabiseng Lamona is 25 years old and lives in a three–bedroom brick house with water and electricity in Khayelitsha. She lives with her mother, 2 brothers, her sister and her two children (she gave birth to a little girl just before the project started). She is a lovely, outgoing woman with a positive outlook on life and is determined to help others.
Nthabiseng discovered that she was HIV positive in 1998 after she was raped on the beach; her family knows her status. She didn’t tell her partner at first about her status, but she did use condoms. As it ends up, her partner was also HIV positive, but didn’t tell her. He split the condom with a razor and she got pregnant. Her child is HIV negative.
Nthabiseng wanted to be involved in this project because “so many people don’t accept HIV and think it’s the end of the world.” She wants to show them that this is not the case and that if your CD4 count is high you can have a baby and be healthy. She believes that everything depends on your outlook and wants to give people hope. She wanted to take photos of herself and how she shares her status with her family and friends. She also wanted to take photos of her healthy child.

Nwabisa Ndlokovane is 32 years old and lives in Khayelitsha in government housing with her husband and her 2 kids (boys ages 5 and 1). She is a wonderful, warm woman whose family knows her status. Her husband is positive but her children are negative. Just before Nwabisa came to mothers2mothers she was pregnant and very sick. She had collapsed and was taken to Mowbray Maternity where she met Mitch Besser, mothers2mothers' founder. She had no hope and imagined her own funeral but has since found hope, support, and increased confidence. Nwabisa wanted to be part of the project because she believes people still have a problem with HIV and that it’s still taboo. She says, “If you tell people you’re positive, they stop seeing you and just see the disease.” She wanted to take photos of herself at churches and schools, educating people.

Ntombizanele Skote is 29 years old and lives in Khayelitsha in a bungalow that she shares with her husband and her 3 years old boy, who is HIV negative. She is pregnant with her second child and due June 17th, 2006. Her family and friends know her status, as does her husband, who is negative. Ntombizanele wanted to be in the project because “HIV is everywhere” and she wants everyone to know that. She also want others to know that people with HIV can live just like HIV negative people—that there’s no difference. She wanted to take photos at home, chatting, at rallies, and of people with and without HIV to show they’re the same.

Yolanda Tsini is 25 years old and lives in Khayelitsha in a shack with no electricity or water. She lives with her boyfriend and their child. She found out that she was HIV positive in April of 2005. Her boyfriend knows her status but her parents don’t because they live in the Eastern Cape and she hasn’t been back since her diagnosis and doesn’t want to tell them over the phone. Yolanda wanted to be in this project to have a memory of her life to show to her family and friends.

Phumza Brikwa, 28, lives in Khayelitsha with her husband and two–year old daughter, who is HIV negative. While her family accepts her, they wouldn’t go near her twin sister, who died from AIDS. Her husband has never been tested. Phumza and her family live in a shack behind her husband’s family’s house, which has water and electricity. Phumza wanted to take photos to show her child when she’s dead. She wants her child to know about HIV so she won’t contract it, which is why she always makes sure she sees her taking all her medications. She wants to teach her not to discriminate and makes sure her daughter plays with the neighbor’s child who is negative.

Bulelwa Myoyo, 35 years–old, lives in Gugulethu with her 8 year–old son. Bulelwa was HIV negative at the time of his birth. Bulelwa was diagnosed in 2003 and became very ill towards the end of that year. She spent three months in hospital with a CD4 count of 1 (800-1200 is considered within the normal range). Since then she has begun to take ARVs and has seen her health improve and her CD4 count rise to 95. Bulelwa wanted to participate in the project because she feels she has been given a second chance at life and wanted to show people that you can come back from something as devastating as HIV/AIDS. She wanted to take pictures of her everyday life to illustrate how normal a person living with HIV’s life can be.